A novel method to automatically simulate solid fragmentation within fluid flows

Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is a common phenomenon in several scientific and engineering contexts. Nevertheless, analytical solutions are usually impossible and critical difficulties arise also if numerically attacking the problem. A particularly challenging matter deals with the reproduction of solid media fracture due to the action of hydrodynamic forces, e.g. the hydraulic fracture and fracking process.

Although different methodologies have been proposed for FSI problems, no recipes exist for automatically handling fragmentation problems.

In this context, we propose a novel numerical procedure able to simulate solid fragmentation within fluid flows. The method is based on peridynamics for solid mechanics coupled with Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid phase through an Immersed Boundary Method (IBM). The main advantages of using peridynamics for solid mechanics consist in the natural crack detection and propagation. The proposed FSI method has been implemented into a parallel and several simulations have been performed.

We will show tests on simple FSI configurations to benchmark the method. Then, we will present results on complex problems showing the ability of the method to simulate solid fragmentation within fluid flows.